10 Jun 2026
Episode 118 (ft. Robert Forte): Beyond the Propaganda: The True History of Psychedelics
James Fadiman calls Robert Forte, “a major but not well known hero of the psychedelic movement.” A scholar, editor, publisher, professor, researcher of the subject for over 3 decades, Forte has come to some disturbing realizations about the psychedelic renaissance that he helped to start. Huston Smith called his first book, Entheogens and the Future of Religion, “the best single inquiry into the religious significance of chemically occasioned mystical experience that has yet appeared.” Forte was introduced to psychedelics in 1980 by Frank Barron, who initiated Timothy Leary and started the Harvard Psilocybin Project with him. From the University of California Forte was invited to Esalen to study with Stanislav Grof, before going to the University of Chicago to study the history and psychology of religion under Mircea Eliade. Over the years Forte has worked closely with many of the most prominent leaders of the psychedelic movement, including R. G. Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Alexander Shulgin, Claudio Naranjo, and many others. His early MDMA research in 1981-85 turned on 100s of people to this new medicine. Though this project led to the creation of MAPS, Forte is a vocal critic of MAPS government collusion and deceptive policies. His second book is a rounded view of Timothy Leary, Outside Looking In: Appreciations, Castigations, Reminiscences. He first experienced ayahuasca in 1988, and conducted ayahuasca research with cancer patients in Peru, yet he is now suspicious of the globalizing of ayahuasca as an form of “spiritual colonialism.” He is a enthusiastic supporter of conscious, independent psychedelic healing and recreation, and an equally fierce opponent of psychedelics for mind control, profiteering, and social engineering by political and economic elites.0:02 Welcome & Robert Forte Introduction1:32 Robert's Journey: From Columbia to Psychedelic History8:37 Host's Background & Cannabis as a Truth Serum10:47 LSD, MDMA & Intentional Use14:00 The First MDMA Experience (Esalen, 1981)20:45 The Underground MDMA Network & Alexander Shulgin23:20 Rick Doblin, MAPS & the MDMA Controversy24:28 MDMA Criminalized & Deep State Drug Policy40:28 Eleusinian Mysteries & Psychedelic Religion1:03:47 Wasson, the CIA & the Psychedelic Rollout1:32:09 Is Monogamy Natural?Robert's Website: https://www.alteredstatesofamerica.net/Referenced in the Episode: Robert Forte: Psychedelics History and War On Drugs | Ben Stewart Podcast #15 (Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/live/6QdbNx97nGQ?si=VDHm7Z5rRLzaFDn3Entheogens and the Future of Religion (Book): https://a.co/d/03qgQg1BJohn Potash (website): https://www.johnpotash.com/Before War (Book by Elisha Daeva): https://a.co/d/0eGYHfh1Book a Complementary Call with Garnett: https://canna-clarity.com/Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@thebalancingact47/shortsToltec Wisdom Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuGfcNGpX6PRPUEKC2lWIFGw_Tdfe0X-w
Outro Music:https://music.apple.com/us/artist/rielxriel/1399816701https://open.spotify.com/artist/2s0D36E6cXawPaQYm6A3dMhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgTAVoJ3i1LZs00tuU7L4Lwhttps://listen.tidal.com/artist/9980797Recorded 6.8.26
